American actress Anne Heche is brain dead. She is attached to a ventilator until suitable candidates for organ donation are found. A spokesperson for the family reports this. Heche had been in a coma with severe brain damage since last week after a car accident in Los Angeles. She was 53 years old.
The actress drove her car into a home last Friday . She was taken to hospital in critical condition after the collision. Last weekend, a spokesperson said that the actress was stable, but on Monday it was announced that she was doing very badly and that she was in a coma. Police said traces of narcotics had been found in her blood.
A few days later, a representative of Heche reported that the actress is unlikely to survive. “It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept alive to determine if they are viable,” the spokesman said.
Her family is extremely saddened by Heche’s passing. “We have lost a sparkling light, a kind and joyful soul, a loving mother and a loyal friend. Anne will be greatly missed, but she lives on in her beautiful sons and her iconic body of work.”
“Her courage to always stand up for the truth and her message of love and acceptance that she spread will have a lasting impact.”
The actress became known in the 1980s for her role in the soap opera Another World. She could be seen in it until 1992. She later starred in films such as Donnie Brasco (1997), Wag the Dog (1997) and Six Days Seven Nights (1998). She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in the 2004 TV movie Gracie’s Choice.
In the late 1990s, Heche attracted a lot of media attention because of her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres. The two broke up in 2000 after three years. A year later, Heche married cinematographer Coleman Laffoon, with whom she had a son. In 2007 she filed for divorce, which was final two years later. The actress then got into a relationship with actor James Tupper, with whom she also had a son. The two broke up in 2018.